Hey, Baby, Want a Date?
Thursday, 28. July 2005 - 10:30 pm
SAN
FRAN CHRONICLE — July 23 — With advances in cell phone technology and
wireless networks, users can browse truncated profiles, view photos of
possible dates and exchange cheesy lines via text messaging. SmallPlanethas come up with a way for its compatible users to be alerted when they
are within range of each other, in most cases about 30 feet for
now. Said analyst Brent Iadarola of frost & Sullivan. "The
comfort people have with online dating in the wired world is now
translating to the mobile world." Subscription revenue for mobile
services are expected to rise from $31.4 million this year to $215
million by 2009. That does not include revenue from text-messaging
charges, which could double those figures, according to Iadarola.
"Handset technology has moved in leaps and bounds to the point you can
have a good user experience while on the bus or sitting in the back of
car," said Mark Brooks, editor of Online Personals Watch.
"People are gaming and texting now. It all makes sense at last." One
promising technology is location-based dating, in which users can be
alerted to a potential match just down the street or somewhere in their
ZIP code. "I can go to a club, and the phone becomes a transponder,"
said Joe Brennan Jr., vice president of Webdate,
the industry leader with 5 million users. "I can find someone I match
up with, and that facilitates a meeting." But there's a hitch. Wireless
carriers haven't embraced Webdate technology for now because they are
unconvinced of the safety and manageability of the service. Some fear
the technology could be manipulated to electronically harass users. FULL ARTICLE @ SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE